Cover Reveal: Song of the Lioness Quartet 40th-Anniversary Reissue
How about that? A 40th Anniversary edition! Wow. This isn’t as striking for me as for a lot of readers, I’m sure, because somehow I missed these books in the 80s and 90s. I didn’t personally read anything by Tamora Pierce until I was an adult. Even so, look at that, a whole generation of fantasy fans probably grew up with Alanna as their introduction to fantasy.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers is reissuing special editions, the covers of which are seen here for the first time. The anniversary editions include hardcover and paperback versions out on August 29, a reissue of the paperback boxed set with new art, and the first-ever hardcover boxed set, available September 26. All editions will include an afterword by Pierce.
This is certainly a nice thing to offer fans.
With the new cover designs, Jimenez said, the goal was not only to acknowledge Alanna as an iconic character but to focus on the power and strength that makes her so beloved. “Many of the previous covers for this series have either gone with a traditional ‘medieval fantasy’ aesthetic or have used a more symbolic approach that doesn’t visually center Alanna herself,” she said. “Designer Rebecca Syracuse and I wanted to show Alanna in strong, dynamic poses that cue how epic her adventures really are. And our incredible cover artist, Yuta Onoda, was right on the same wavelength with us.” The books “keep becoming relevant in new ways,” she added, and the new covers reflect the message that these stories are for “anyone who believes they can be something more than what society tells them they’re supposed to be.”
They’re nice covers, MG style of course, but very appropriate for that category. I like them, especially the last, Lioness Rampant. Somehow that image just really appeals to me.
There’s an interview at the link as well as all the covers, so certainly click through if you’re a Tamora Pierce fan.
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I remember being in the Harvard Co-op’s ya/kid’s section, and hearing a Harvard student explain to her friend that Alanna inspired her to start fencing, and here she was at Harvard on a fencing scholarship.
Love those books, particularly how they treat her relationships. It’s hard to find a book for young people where the first love isn’t a) their only love or b) revealed to be awful/evil – it’s nice that it models how sometimes people just don’t work romantically but can still be friends.
SarahZ, that’s a good idea for a post: novels that show relationships that don’t go meet cute – some sort of romance – true love, the end.
However, I’m glad to say that I hadn’t noticed a serious trend for first love to be evil. I’m happy I haven’t encountered a lot of those books, both because that scenario promises serious angst and because it implies the person who falls in love may be an idiot and that’s why they didn’t notice the evilness. Definitely not keen on idiotic protagonists OR angst.
I think the latter is more common on YA? It’s like, if the first love isn’t a true love, there has to be a Reason, not just “it didn’t work out”.
That’s a good observation, Sarah, and I bet it’s just like that — exactly like that! I bet that’s precisely what the author is thinking, that they have to have a REASON, a BIG REASON for the first love not to work. When actually it can be a tiny little reason, or no reason particularly, and let’s just be friends.
Awww, it’s nice to see Gimli in one of your posts alongside all his relatives! The puppies look great!
Whoops, wrong post! Oh well, that’s what I get for browsing on mobile.
I agree with you no matter where the comment appeared! He does look great!